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I'm a new flier who owns a Prism Quantum and Prism Nexus. As I said in another thread, I am not too impressed with the Quantum, slow and too much pull. The Nexus seems to be completely the opposite, too small and fast. Or maybe it's just the flier's fault.

My question is: what is the best kite for a newbie wanting to learn some tricks? I don't mind spending some money on a good kite that I can use for a long time, as long as it's good.

The Quantum is pretty much an ideal kite to learn basic tricks on. Partly because it is a fairly slow kite for it's size. I'd learn the following on it before moving up because it's so durable and stable.

Stall - anything smaller or lighter is just plain hard to hold in a stallAxel - Very easy on this kite. Lazy Susan - Also very easy. I'm not talking about all the variations, just getting the kite onto it's back an spun around.Pancake/Fade/flickflac - A pretty stable fade and this is a critical sequence that involves lots of lawn darts and other mishaps while learning.

These are the building blocks for practically all the advanced tricks and the Quantum does them great.

The Wolf is Designed by Jon Trennophol of Skyburner but is produced by Premier Kites, just in case you have trouble locating it. It's a fun and capable kite, James (Dolphinboy) gave a recent review of it here, The Widow by Premier is a less expensive version of the Skyburner Widowmaker using a Nylon sail and Skyshark straight 'P' Series spars rather then the expensive Nitro's and is also a very capable kite in the full size range. If you prefer a quicker lighter pulling kite then a full size the Nighthawk, another Jon Trennophol design made by Premier is another great value and will fly in a bit lower wind range then the Wolf.

The Silver Foxes are a great value to with the advantage of having a full range of Light, Standard & Vent available and the 2 sizes.

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"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see" John W Lennon

"People do not quit playing because they grow old, they grow old because they quit playing" George Bernard Shaw

I pretty much agree with mike. Take a look at the Premier Widow. It's full size and it will do most tricks without any weird behavior. I think you could learn a lot of tricks on the Wolf too.

The Silver Foxes would work well too. I had one and have flown all the versions but the vented. They are easy to trick and are also rather slow. The extra time can be a big benefit when learning to trick.

If you could find a Eolo Over in the U.S., I would consider one of those. It's a sturdy kite that will do just about any trick. The Over has a bit of a slower pace like the Silver Fox but still tricks snappy. I learned a lot of tricks on the Over.

Thanks, guys! I knew they were Jon T's kites but I got Premier and Skyburner mixed up. The Widow is the one I was thinking of - it's the less expensive version of the Widow Maker. The Wolf is a cousin, I guess. Jon T designs nice kites.

I also have the Nighthawk but I like the Widow Maker a whole lot better. The Nighthawk is a 3/4 kite and I like full size kites better.

i'm dave from Oz and i also have the Prism Q and found tricks hard on the Quantum. then i started moving my feet more and tricks started to open up to me.

i still can't do most of those tricks properly yet but i can now see the potential in the kite with good winds and timing.

the tricks Allen suggested below are great for me to work on as i was unsure of what i should be attempting to do with the kite trick wise.

Stall - anything smaller or lighter is just plain hard to hold in a stallAxel - Very easy on this kite.Lazy Susan - Also very easy. I'm not talking about all the variations, just getting the kite onto it's back an spun around.Pancake/Fade/flickflac - A pretty stable fade and this is a critical sequence that involves lots of lawn darts and other mishaps while learning.

These are the building blocks for practically all the advanced tricks and the Quantum does them great.

That's the best advice i heard so far as a beginner besides the move your feet thing.

hey dave. great attitude. listening to allen is the way to go. you will outgrow the quantum if you stick with it but for now you have what you need. it is all about muscle memory at this point practice but HAVE FUN KO

do the pancake trick. from the top of the window point kite down and before you lawn dart give it heaps of slack so the kite flares flat and lands on its belly. that will give you a real sense of how much you actually need to move.

'heaps of slack' may mean (depending on wind) throwing your arms forward to skipping or even diving forward!

i worked up a sweat trying to get the pancake, but once i did, i understood the basics of moving and my body opened up to taking control of the kite. stalls become easier for me after learning to pancake. and once you get the pancake landing you can then do a pancake off the ground and turn it into a lazy susan... ohh combination's...

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